Delete first 10 characters of every line in textfile

text-processing sed cut text

5,206

Solution 1

If you assured about the first 10 characters - use the following find + sed solution:

find . -type f -name "*.java" -exec sed -i 's/.\{10\}//' {} \;

find . -type f -name "*.java" - to find all *.java files recursively
sed -i 's/.\{10\}//' - remove the 1st 10 characters from each line in each found file (-i option allows to modify the file in-place)
this solution will work with GNU sed. With BSD sed you need -i '', as -i requires an argument there. With other versions of sed you don't have -i at all and need to save the output to a different file and mv that file to the original name afterwards.

Solution 2

Try this :

sed -i -r 's/.{10}//' *.java

5,206

K Split X

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

K Split X over 1 year
Suppose I have a file, test.java

It starts off like this every line
```
/*     */ package com.a;
/*     */ import java.util.List

/*     */ etc
```
I want to remove the first 10 characters from every line and replace with empty space, so after running the command, the file should look like this:
```
package com.a;
import java.util.List

etc
```
NOT THIS:
```
          package com.a;
          import java.util.List

          etc
```
Thank you

I'm looking for the correct command, and the command should cover every single .java file in all subdirectories below.
- Philippos over 6 years
  
  Note that it's safer to remove every empty commentary at the beginning of a line (regexp ^/\* *\*/) instead of blindly removing the first 10 characters. Even if you are sure that all lines in all files start this way. If you accidently start the script twice, all your code will be ruined.
- K Split X over 6 years
  
  @Kusalananda I know I use stack exchange frequently, I am familiar with the rules. It's just that I didn't come on the rest of the day
K Split X over 6 years

Would I replace file.txt with *.java?
Gilles Quenot over 6 years

Check my edited post
K Split X over 6 years

When I run this in terminal it actually prints the result to the screen but doesnt actually change the file?
Gilles Quenot over 6 years

Which OS are you using ?
Philippos over 6 years

@KSplitX In this case you are supposed to mark the helpful answer as solution, so future readers will know which answer worked.
K Split X over 6 years

@Philippos I know I didn't come on for the rest of the day
Weekend about 3 years

-r instead of escape 🎉